Bookie janitor can have his job back

METHUEN, MA — Former Superintendent Jeanne Whitten fired Eugene Casey in 2007 for working on an illegal gambling operation while on duty as a school custodian, but now a majority of civil service commissioners say Casey deserves his job back, according to the Eagle-Tribune.

Casey, a former Comprehensive Grammar School janitor, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of using a telephone for gambling after state police busted a gambling ring that was handling up to $500,000 in wagers a week, the article stated.

Casey received two years of probation and a $2,000 fine: Whitten fired him, and he appealed to the state Civil Service Commission to get his job back, the article noted.

According to the article, the commission voted 3-2 earlier this month to amend Casey''s firing to a one-year suspension without pay.

Commissioner Daniel Henderson accepted Whitten''s testimony that Casey conducted gambling business on the clock at his school job, but he said Whitten didn''t prove she had just cause to fire Casey, stating that "there was no evidence that established whether he was on a break" when Casey took calls related to gambling, "nor was there evidence to establish that his calls interfered in any way with his custodial duties," the article added.